Former President and 2020 Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to address the developmental needs of the newly created North East Region.

The former President is on a ‘thank you tour’ of the regions in the north to express his appreciation to them for their support during the 2020 polls.

Speaking at a gathering of party executives and supporters at Nalerigu, Mr. Mahama said: “You cannot just create regions in name. The regions must be worthy of being called regions. And it is the infrastructure that makes a region.”

“If you go to Tamale, you will know that this is the Northern Region. If you go to Bolga you will know that this is the Upper East Region. If you come to Nalerigu, it is a shadow of a region”, Mahama said, adding that “we don’t only need the regional boundaries to be re-drawn; we need regional infrastructure so that when you come you will say yes, this is the North East Region.”

The former President was unhappy about some NDC-initiated projects in the region, which he said had been abandoned by the Akufo-Addo government.

“I went and greeted the Nayiri and before that, the Gambagarana and Gambaga Imam, and the common refrain is that when is this government going to continue the projects that were left-off by the NDC administration,” he said.

Some projects that have stalled are a new site for the Gambaga College of Education, Community Day Senior High Schools, and the Nalerigu-Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri road.

Former President Mahama also decried the increasing spate of armed robberies in the region.

He identified low morale and the lack of logistics for the police to fight crime as part of the reason for the growing insecurity and called on the government to urgently address the situation.

“The government should avert its mind to the security situation in the northern part of the country. There can be no progress and prosperity without security.”